Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

56. To ask the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the steps being taken by her Department to address significant childcare waiting lists, including the almost 2,400 children currently awaiting a place in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50172/25]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Improving access to quality and affordable Early Learning and Care and School Age Childcare is a key priority of Government

Early learning and childcare capacity is increasing. Data from the Annual Early Years Sector Profile 2023/24 shows that the estimated number of enrolments increased by approximately 19% from the 2021/22 programme year. Core Funding application data shows that between Year 1 and Year 3 of the scheme, annual place hours increased by over 15%. However, it appears that demand for early learning and childcare remains higher than available supply in certain parts of the country, particularly for younger children.

Demand for early learning and childcare beyond sessional pre-school provision is highly elastic and shaped very substantially by families' individual composition, circumstances, and preferences; employment patterns and income; and the price and availability of services.

Each year, Pobal compiles data from Early Learning and Care (ELC) and School Age Childcare (SAC) providers as part of the Early Years Sector Profile.

The most recent published capacity data for the 2023/24 programme year estimated that there were 11,634 children enrolled in ELC and SAC services in County Kildare. This data also indicated that 42% of service providers had at least one vacant place and an estimated 48% had a waiting list.

It is important to note that waiting list data should not be used as a measure of overall demand for ELC and SAC places. While waiting list data can be used to give an indication of demand for places for a given age group or service type not all services operate a waiting list. In addition, an individual child may be on multiple waiting lists in different services.

Further information can be found on the Early Learning and Childcare data website. The Capacity Section of the website provides information on the number of children enrolled, services with vacant places, and services with a waiting list.

A Forward Planning and Delivery Unit in this Department is pursuing an ambitious programme of work. The unit is developing a forward planning model which will be central to my Department's plans to achieve the policy goals set out in the Programme for Government to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system, with State-led facilities adding capacity.

This Department continues to support the ongoing development and resourcing of Core Funding which has given rise to a significant expansion of places since the scheme was first introduced. Core Funding, which is in its fourth programme year, funds services based on the number of places available.

This provides stability to services, and reduces the risk associated with opening a new service or expanding an already existing service. For the previous programme year, the allocation for Core Funding allowed for a 6% increase in capacity. Additional funding was secured in Budget 2025 to facilitate a further 3.5% increase from September 2025.

The Government is also supporting the expansion of capacity through capital funding. The Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme is designed to increase capacity in the 1–3-year-old, pre–Early Childhood Care and Education, age range for full day care. Core Funding Partner services could apply for capital funding to physically extend their premises or to construct or purchase new premises.

50 applications were approved to progress to the next stage of the Building Blocks Extension Grant Scheme. These are a mix of Community Extension, Private Extension, Community Purchasing and Community Construction projects, which, when completed, will deliver up to 1,500 additional full time childcare places for 1–3-year-olds. The projects include services in Kildare. I look forward to seeing these projects progress over the coming months.

The Programme for Government commits for the first time to provide capital investment to build or purchase state-owned early learning and childcare facilities, to create additional capacity in areas where unmet need exists. State ownership of facilities is a very substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignment with estimated demand. This work will be supported through capital investment under the revised National Development Plan.

The approach more widely to ensuring appropriate levels of early learning and childcare supply is being considered by the Department and will be further articulated in the context of the Action Plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early childhood education and care system that Government has committed to publishing.

This Department also funds 30 City/County Childcare Committees, which provide support and assist families and early learning and childcare providers. The network of 30 City/County Childcare Committees across the country can assist in identifying vacant places in services for children and families who need them and engage proactively with services to explore possibilities for expansion among services, particularly where there is unmet need.

Parents experiencing difficulty in relation to their early learning and childcare needs should contact their local City/County Childcare Committee for assistance. Contact details for the Kildare County Childcare Committee may be found at www.kccc.ie/ .